Today we have the lovely Lindsay from Fleur de Sel sharing her recipes for a fabulous wine country picnic. I recently finished designing Lindsay’s blog, and can tell you that the girl knows her way around the kitchen!
Hi lovelies! It’s Lindsay from Fleur de Sel, and I am so honored to pen a guest post for Victoria while she is away on a much deserved vacation in the wine country. Like Victoria, I am also lucky enough to live in San Francisco, and one of the most amazing things about living here is that world-class vineyards are less than an hour away. There is something so uncannily beautiful about the wine country in northern California – the sloping hills covered with vineyards, the charming town squares – even the light is different and more romantic. It feels like a million miles away from the city, and spending even one afternoon there feels like a restorative mini-vacation.
Even though there are tons of amazing restaurants in the area, one of my favorite things to do is to pack a picnic lunch. After hitting up a few tastings, there is nothing better than spreading out a blanket on the grounds of a beautiful winery, unpacking a picnic lunch, popping a bottle of rose, and kicking back and just taking it all in, preferably with a lovely wine-induced buzz going.
Whether your picnic is in the middle of vineyards, at the beach, in your neighborhood park or in your own backyard, here are a few ideas of what to bring along: Read more »
Tiffany’s blog Savor Home is one of my favorites for delicious, easy recipes, pretty photographs, and a great mix of interior design and fashion. I loved her recipe for orecchiette with sausage and broccoli so much (the photos are amazing too!) that I asked her if I could share it with you all today. This recipe would be a very easy thing to make on a weeknight, and perfect to reheat for lunch the next day!
I found this orecchiette pasta in one of Giada’s cookbooks and I’ve seen her make several versions of it on her show. I have always been fascinated with the shape of that pasta, so I decided to try it out. Let’s just say my taste buds were ecstatic! This was incredibly delicious, slightly spicy (I used hot Italian sausage cause’ I love spicy food) and so easy to make. The juices from the sausage and the pasta water create this light and wonderful sauce that is SO good! It look me less than 25 minutes to make this from start to finish, so it would be a great weeknight dinner.
A little side note: The recipe called for broccoli rabe, which can be a little bitter. So I substituted baby broccoli, which is slightly sweet and much more tender than broccoli rabe and regular broccoli. If you have kids, they might favor it more as well.
Get Tiffany’s adapted recipe, right here: Read more »
I’m not quite sure when my love affair with amatriciana began. Maybe when I realized that I liked it’s bold, robust flavor more than carbonara’s rich-yet-delicate one? Pronounced ah-ma-treetch-ee-ya-nah (with the middle part said fast!), amatriciana is similar to carbonara with one huge, major difference: the tomato, of course! But, luckily for you, it’s just as easy to make, and in my humble opinion, way more delicious.
You start with some pork — guanciale, traditionally; pancetta, sometimes; though in my case, I totally cheated and used bacon — cook a bit of onion, and add in your tomato. That’s really the essence of amatriciana. Like so many traditional regional dishes, there are many opinions about what’s authentic and what’s not. I say forget all that. Make it so that it’s authentic to you, and probably more importantly, in a way that is quick and easy on a weeknight!
Amatriciana, in Rome at least, is often made with bucatini, which is my personal favorite pasta to pair with the sauce. There wasn’t any bucatini in sight at Whole Foods though, so I opted for some linguini instead. You could use spaghetti, rigatoni, any shape of pasta you like, really! Here’s how to make it: Read more »
